Be it ever so humble...

When I arrived in Hong Kong in May 2021, I spent over two years of living out of a suitcase in a serviced hotel. Aside from the weekly room cleaning and makeup, the premises was basically a 33 square-meters room and a view of the harbour overlooking TST.

There was the occasional frustration that I could not have ice cream in the room because the refrigerator wasn't cold enough. I also could not make my favourite gyudon from Don Don Donki as it was impossible to store any frozen food. There also wasn’t a stove in the room. I was lazy to get a portable one and furthermore, room regulations prohibit any sort of cooking indoors.

So last December, instead of calibrating my Hong Kong stay in 4-month blocks, shuttling in between flights to Singapore, I decided to take the plunge and sign a 12-month lease at a small cozy apartment located at the picturesque Fashion Walk locality at Causeway Bay.

I could now indulge in my favourite Japanese beef bowl, have home-cooked pasta, and of course Haagen Daz rum & raisin.

And then in an ironic twist of events, after 8 months into my lease and over 3 years of calling Hong Kong home, I got re-stationed to Singapore.

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Glen Llopis writes about how having an “immigrant mentality” enables one to advance their careers. The idea is that: people who are constantly in a state of uneasiness and on their toes tend to “fight for opportunity” and embrace innovation which pushes them to thrive at work.

I have always found myself in an uneasy profession. Investment banking and the advisory business by nature is perpetually dynamic. If you are not working on a deal, there are always endless pitch books and RFPs to put together. Constant work, bosses and clients keep you on your toes.

But I did not have the best track record of staying put in a job for a long time. Call it a millennial attribute. That said, every jump I made usually came with a significant pay rise. And after a few good hops across a 12-year period, you inevitably hit a ceiling. Because there is only so much more any company can pay you. Taking this into perspective, my overseas stint away from Singapore can be considered one of my longest unbroken tenure at any full-time job.

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Whenever anyone asks me about my time in Hong Kong, I give the customary “I am living by the month” reply. Most people take this as an indication that things are shaky and I don’t plan to be in Hong Kong or China for long. But trust me, I’m just conservatively managing expectations.

There have been counter-arguments to the cause of living like an immigrant, such as the lack of societal integration, disconnection to the past, limiting beliefs, etc. These factors don't really bother me. Aside from the fact that I still can't speak Cantonese and having to deal with accommodation which is always in a temporal flux, I feel quite settled into the city.

In Singapore, I have a mortgage but never had to really worry about rent. In Hong Kong, aside from the lack of having timely access to frozen ice cream in the room, I consistently weigh the hefty costs and duration of how long to sign the lease contract on the hotel room (that is before my transition to a proper apartment last year).

When a huge part of your life involves living out of a suitcase, it becomes very normal to be mentally conditioned for sudden changes, to expect the unexpected, and live month to month. I know a lot of people with family commitments and financial obligations don't live and think like that, but everyone's circumstances is different.

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"You're on a roll, kid. Enjoy it while it lasts, cos it never does." - Lou Manheim (Wall Street)

At one point of time, my KPI at work was linked to the company's share price performance. Fortunately it had been a 'bull market' during that period, a lot of hype around China's tech landscape, and riding on the wave of the fintech frenzy, the company's share price surpassed expectations.

I do not take full credit for this. I am aware that the movement of share prices in capital markets are due to many factors beyond control and rational logic. On the other hand, I also did not want to find out what the alternate outcome would have been if the price had gone in the opposite direction, leaving me with a nasty report card at the end of the year.

The principle has always been very clear and simple to me:

You are good, but only as good as your last trade. The wind can change at an instant, tear away your sails and send you down a waterfall faster than you can imagine.

If you are in your twenties, fine - you can say that you are hardworking, you could be smart, and you can pick yourself up, grabbing onto the next employer who is willing to groom you, a diamond in the rough. In your forties and beyond, the dynamics change. Companies want someone who can "hit-the-ground-running", and experienced hires are relatively inert to change. Furthermore, there are so many diamonds to choose from. The wait to hop on the next boat is longer.

I’m not being a pessimist, I’m just a realist. And being a realist keeps me grounded.

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"There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts, and pain that alters". - Robert McCall (Equalizer 2)

I think the ‘great COVID bull run' on equities that took place between 2020 and 2021 probably also had something to do with my immigrant mentality. I had been fairly successful in writing put options then as strategy for investing and income, but ended up losing quite a lot of it in early 2022 when I failed to properly “hedge” my positions.

In short, I learned: Everything could go as quickly as it came.

It was a painful experience that altered my philosophy towards investing, creating a self-defense mechanism, to avoid similar situations in the future. And recognising that everything can change overnight or in a span of a few days have led me to constantly live on my toes.

It might be true that I had done very well for myself in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, did a lot of good work, and embraced the environment, culturally, linguistically and commercially. I had also “out-lived” a lot of the friends and co-workers that I had gotten to know at the firm.

I know a lot of people who get incredibly excited and feel a great sense of accomplishment from closing a landmark project, or being chiefly responsible in negotiating a good deal, or spotting that transformational investment opportunity, or getting a huge bonus at the end of the year. There is nothing wrong with feeling important and celebrating these achievements.

But I will always be aware - aware that I’m just one bad trade, or one screw-up, one step away from losing it all.

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[1] Adaptation from the phrase "You are free - but only as free as your last trade" from 'Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life', by Nassim Taleb